Timeline: Boston Marathon bombing suspect captured

A timeline of the events that led to the discovery of two ethically Chechen brother suspected of being involved with the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

An ambulance containing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, departs 67 Franklin Street, where he was discovered hiding inside a boat in Watertown, MassachusettsCredit: Reuters

Authorities were investigating whether two ethnic Chechen brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon acted alone as they prepared to file charges against the surviving suspect.

Following a tense 24 hours for the Boston area, the manhunt ended Friday with 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cornered, captured and taken into custody.

Here is a timeline of events:

* Thursday, April 18, about 5:10 p.m.

- The FBI releases photographs and video of two men suspected of planting the pressure cooker bombs that killed three people and injured 176 at the Boston Marathon on Monday. Video footage shows a man known as suspect No. 1 wearing a dark baseball cap. He was later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26.

Suspect No. 2, later identified as Tsarnaev's brother, Dzhokhar, 19, was wearing a white cap backwards in the images. The 30-second videos are played repeatedly on national television, and photographs of the suspects are posted online.

* Thursday night at 9:04 p.m.

- Russian-language social networking site VK shows someone last logged out of what appears to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's page. The site had been accessed via mobile device.

* Thursday night around 10:20 p.m.

- Media cited authorities as saying the pair staged a robbery at a convenience store at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but state police said later they were not the ones who robbed the store.

* 10:30 p.m.

- Police discover MIT campus police officer Sean Collier, 26, shot multiple times in his car. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced dead. Collier was shot after an altercation on a Cambridge street corner, MIT said.

* Shortly after 10:30 p.m.

- Police say the two brothers hijack a car and abduct its owner for about a half hour, forcing him to withdraw money from an ATM before releasing him at a gas station where a security camera captures an image of someone who appears to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Police track the car's movements using the captive owner's cellphone, and say the two suspects tell him they bombed the marathon, the Watertown police chief told CNN.

Police track the car as it heads to the Boston suburb of Watertown.

* Friday, April 19, about 12:30 a.m.

Witnesses report hearing dozens of gunshots. More than 200 rounds were fired over about five to 10 minutes, Watertown police said. A transit police officer is hurt in the shootout.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev walks towards police, firing until he runs out of ammunition, according to the police chief's account. He is tackled by police officers, who try to handcuff him in the street. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev drives toward the police officers, who scatter. The vehicle hits the older brother, dragging him a short way down the street.

- A huge manhunt is launched for the second suspect and hundreds of police officers and FBI agents descend on Watertown.

* Between 3 and 4 a.m.

- Massachusetts police announce they will conduct a door-to-door search in Watertown. Citizens are warned to stay indoors.

* Around 5:30 a.m.

- Train service in Boston is suspended.

- By 6 a.m., a heavy contingent of police reinforcements arrives in Watertown. At sunrise, they begin multiple sweeps through the streets. State police wear fatigues and carry side-arms and semi-automatic rifles. Some teams are accompanied by black armored trucks as they fan across neighborhoods.

* 8 a.m.

- Massachusetts officials announce they have expanded the shelter-in-place recommendations for the entire city of Boston, effectively putting the city in lockdown as they search for Tsarnaev.

* 10:30 a.m.

- Police say they have located a gray Honda with Massachusetts license plates in the Boston area that they believe had been occupied by a bombing suspect.

* Shortly after 10:45 a.m.

- Top security and counterterrorism advisers finish an hour-long briefing with President Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room on developments in the Boston manhunt.

* Throughout the day

- The search goes on, including the help of Black Hawk helicopters. The manhunt covers 60 percent to 70 percent of the search area by afternoon, Massachusetts State Police Colonel Timothy Alben says.

Gunfire erupts in Watertown and police converge on a house where the suspect is believed to be hiding, about half a mile from the scene of the shootout. Police had been tipped off by a resident who believed someone was hiding in a boat in the house's back yard.

* About 8:45 p.m.

Boston police say they captured the suspect alive and he is in custody.

* 9:45 p.m.

The suspect is in serious condition at a hospital, police say. He was found covered in blood, hiding in a boat in a part of Watertown that had been slightly outside the police search perimeter throughout the day, law enforcement officials say at a press conference.

* About 10 p.m.

President Barack Obama praises Boston law enforcement officers, says he has instructed the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. intelligence community to help with the ongoing investigation.

Compiled based on Reuters reporting, official statements from law enforcement and media reports. All times Eastern Daylight Time.